| A | B |
|---|
| double booking appointments | The practice used, when the schedule is full, of entering overflow patient appointments in a second column beside regular appointments; in some cases, triple columns are used. |
| fixed office hours | Desisgnated hours during which the doctor is available for appointments; patients sign in with the receptionist and are seen in the order in which they arrive and sign in. |
| no show | A term used to refer to patients who, without notifying the physician's office, fail to show up for an appointment. |
| screening calls | The practice of evaluating calls to decide on appropriate appointment action. |
| telephone etiquette | Set of skills and attitudes used when answering the phone that allows the assistant to sound alert, interested, and concerned. |
| triage | The determination of how soon a patient needs to be seen by the physician based on whether the patient's condition requires immediate attention. |
| wave scheduling | Fixed office hours combined with scheduled office appointments for a specific number of patients. |
